Monday, September 11, 2017

IT (2017)

Every generation gets their boogeyman
and it looks like this generation is getting Pennywise, The Dancing Clown. Yes
my friends, this killer clown from outer space has earned his rank amongst the
horror elite. Pennywise is the brainchild of Stephen King who first introduced
him with his hugely successful novel ‘IT’, which premiered way back in 1986.
The book was then adapted into a television miniseries, where it frightened a
whole generation of 90’s kids (myself included) thanks in no small part to Tim Curry’s brilliant
interpretation of the title character. Now Pennywise has been resurrected via a
theatrically released film. Considering how many terrible remakes we get on a
yearly basis, I was hesitant to accept this one, as I always am when they want
to mess around with a classic. Would Bill Skarsgard, the actor portraying
Pennywise do the character justice, or was he just going to clone Tim Curry’s
take on it? The same trepidation went for the director, Andy Muschietti, the
director behind Mama (2003), which I’ve yet to see. Would he have what it takes to
make a truly frightening movie or would this be another watered down “Horror
Movie” afraid to truly scare us?

In case you’ve never seen the
mini-series or read King’s book IT is all about this town in which kids keep disappearing
for no apparent reason. A group of nerds and outcast who call themselves “The
Losers” notice what is happening and decide to do something about it. Their explorations
lead them to a discovery: there’s a strange, evil clown kidnapping the kids! Can
they confront this evil entity and stop the disappearance’s from happening?

My big preoccupation with this
movie was whether it was going to be truly horrifying or not. I’ve grown to
learn that in modern Hollywood, an ‘R’ rating doesn’t necessarily equal
intensity. Sometimes it’s just a hook to make you think the film you are about
to watch is going to be “edgy” then you realize you’ve been had. In the case of
‘IT’ I am happy to say that this is a truly hardcore horror movie not afraid to
shock us. In the first ten minutes, the film really shows us its fangs and lets
us know it isn’t fooling around, if you stay, you are going to be horrified! So
if you can’t take the heat, you better get out of that kitchen! The scares are
well orchestrated, it is gory, it is intense and freaking Pennywise is a
memorable boogyman! A memorable villain! My hats down to Bill Skarsgard for
delivering a truly nuanced performance. Pennywise’s movements and facial
gestures truly delivered a bone chilling villain, everything about him feels
strange or “off”, his evil is felt in every part of the performance. Loved this
villain, and I love the fact that he really goes for the jugular when the movie
turns up the heat.

But apart from a strong, memorable
villain, which by the way I’ve been dying to see in a film for a while now, we
get a group of young characters who deliver believable performances that manage
to capture that innocent age when everything is new, when you kiss for the
first time, when you develop friendships that will last you a life time, and
when you first start standing up to your parents. I’ve always liked that about ‘IT’,
that idea that this group of friends truly care for each other, that feeling
that you’re with people you can really trust in. This of course is something
present in many of Stephen King’s stories like Stand By Me (1986) and
Dreamcatcher (2003). King loves to tell stories of friends or a community coming
together to defeat an ultimate evil, so he takes his time in writing situations
where that bond, that love between characters is truly felt. Kudos to the
director for seeing that and bringing it to the big screen. By the way, this
film does something that all good remakes do, it gives us enough new elements
so it doesn’t feel like we’re watching the same film over again.

What I loved the most about this
adaptation is that it didn’t feel like a cheap horror film. It doesn’t feel
like it was made by an idiot trying to scare us with cheap scares. Nope, this
is a well-crafted horror film that looks beautiful, is truly frightening and
has characters you care about, all without losing its edge and remembering its
mission: to make you squirm in your seat. So yes my dear readers, Andy Muschietti and crew
aimed to do make a truly memorable horror film and not something that you’d
forget or worse yet, wish you’d never spent your time and your money on. This
one was special in my book. It's filled with a lot of great moments, I think what Muschietti was
aiming for was a roller coaster ride of horror and he achieved it. I was so
impressed that I will be checking out Muschietti’s Mama (2003). Bottom line is IT
is a fun ride, and should be experienced in a movie theater. By the looks of
it, a sequel is assured, which is supposed to take place 27 years later, when
the kids have all grown up. Here’s hoping they don’t give us a cheap ass sequel
and maintain the same high level of quality with the next film. This film
surpassed my expectations, and that’s a lot to say because normally new horror
films fail to amaze me. IT was jaw-droppingly good!

3 comments:

Great review my friend. I enjoyed IT, but I didn't love it. I loved the kid actors, all of them. They were fantastic. And I loved Skarsgaard as Pennywise. I wasn't really a fan of the unnecessary CGI meant to enhance Pennywise, but only end up coming off as cheap and unnecessary. I actually felt he was creepy all by himself, in those little quiet moments, more than when he's being flung at the camera in those ridiculous moments. I think I still love the original more, just because of when it was made and that incredible cast.

I like the original, it's more "childlike" in some ways, I love Tim Curry's portrayal of Pennywise, but the new one in my book is scarier. I thought the computer effects were excellent, I don't know, I think its superior in many ways, but I still have a soft spot for the original for other reasons, I mean, there's no denying it has its moments. Especially when it comes to Pennywise and his appearances.

I'm still waiting for a good adaptation. The 1990 miniseries was severly hampered by what was acceptable on network television in those days, and Muschietti's version has been "re-imagined" to the point where it might as well be a completely different story. While technically a good horror movie (and a very good looking movie), Muschietti's "IT" is ultimately a disappointment for true fans of the novel.